Keep Up (the Good Fight)
by dreadfuldread
Summary: A year-long look into Merlin and Arthur's relationship with their two daughters, Grace (almost 3) and Jasmine aka Minnie (almost 1). PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A CONTINUATION FIC TO: A Day to A Year, A Love to A Lover, but flash forwarded 4 years ahead. YES, THIS IS A FAMILY STORY. (Also posted on my AO3 account, thelordvoldemort.)
1. Friday January 1st, 2021

**And here we are again, my friends. Welcome back, or welcome aboard! While the year for us is 2017, the year this story takes place in is 2021.**

 **Happy New Fears.**

 **Happy New Year.**

 **You all know the rules by now, and if not, go read ADTAYALTAL (omfg I can't believe I stuck with the title of the first fic for a whole year.)**

 **Title from Anthem Academy's "Good Life." I might change it.**

"Papa," a sweet but loud whisper in his ear rouses him from sleep.

Arthur makes a faint questioning noise in response, not yet wanting to open his eyes.

"Papa."

When Arthur still refuses to open his eyes, the voice stops and Arthur thinks that's the end of it. A moment later, he is proven wrong when all the air in his lungs are whooshed out of him by a sudden weight on his chest, causing him to finally open his eyes.

"Gracy, darling, what did I tell you?" Arthur's husband asks amusedly from beside him.

"To wake Papa, Daddy."

"Yes, darling. Wake him, not make him sleep forever."

The three-year-old eases up enough for Arthur to breath a little easier but Grace rolls her eyes that look so very much like Merlin's, but roll and sharpen so very much like Morgana's; but Arthur supposes that's what he and Merlin get for using Merlin's sperm and Morgana's eggs to have this beautiful baby girl that is (almost quite literally in the biological sense) theirs.

"Sorry, Papa."

Weaky attempting to smooth down his daughter's unruly mess of bedhead that he knows he has no actual way of taming, Arthur smiles up at his girl.

"I'll forgive you if you can give me a good morning kiss."

Smirking, Grace leans towards Arthur's puckered lips and gives him a big smooch and waits until Arthur blows a raspberry against her tiny mouth.

Giggling, Grace pulls back.

"Good morning, baby," Arthur tells her.

"Mornin', Papa! Foxy has stinky breath and Minnie is seven today!" Grace chatters on cheerfully.

"Seven _months_ ," Merlin emphasizes.

" _Months_ ," Grace repeats back to Arthur very serious like, but with a glint in her eyes.

"Is she really?" Arthur asks, wide-eyed and with faux surprise.

"Yep!"

"And how old is Daddy?"

"Younger than you," Grace announces Merlin's usual answer proudly.

Arthur turns a bland expressed face to his husband.

"I was going to say good morning to you, but I don't think I will now," he informs him before turning to the baby in Merlin's lap and Foxy at Merlin's curled up feet. "Hi, babies. Good morning." He reaches out a hand, pointer finger extended for the newly turned seven-month-old Jasmine to grab onto after he's given Foxy a quick scratch behind the ears.

"Alright, don't say good morning to your husband of five years, then. It's not like I made you breakfast or anything," Merlin says with an air of being hurt, but Arthur knows he's just playing.

Smiling a crooked little smile, Arthur glances up at his husband.

"Hello, my love."

Despite himself, it seems, Merlin can't help but smile back.

"Hello, my love," Merlin parrots Arthur's words back to him.

"Good morning."

Smile widening with the corners of his mouth stretching even farther across his face, Merlin tells him, "Now that's much better," before getting a secure hold on the baby and standing up from the bed. And ever the dedicated pet, Foxy immediately stretches before bounding off the bed and across the floor to follow Merlin out the door. Silently, Arthur watches them go, though mostly he's watching Merlin's arse pull against his briefs.

A bright voice pulls him out of his daze.

"Papa, Daddy says you have ta help me brush!"

She means her teeth, and dragging his tongue across the front of his own, Arthur grimaces and thinks a morning brush is much needed.

"Up we get, then," he directs his little girl.

Grace is more than happy to bounce her way off to the bathroom where she waits before the double sink for Arthur. When he arrives, she puts her arms out so Arthur can grab her by the armpits and lift her to sit on the counter.

Once settled, she reaches first for Arthur's toothbrush, which she silently hands to him-

"Thank you, baby girl."

"Welcome, Papa."

-before grabbing her own. She then waits patiently once more, but this time, she is waiting for Arthur to put her special children's toothpaste onto her brush, as she still has difficulty figuring out how much is too much.

"Thank you, Papa."

"You're welcome, baby."

"What candle do you want, Gracy Lu?" Merlin asks his oldest daughter when she skips into the kitchen.

Tilting her head, she scrunches her nose up in contemplation for a few short moments before gasping in anticipation.

"Cherry!"

"Arthur-" he starts to call out, only to be cut off.

"I heard her, love, I've got it."

"Thanks."

Merlin turns back to the kettle, waiting for it to boil.

At the sound of a lighter, he sighs, excitedly anxious to find out if the new candle Arthur bought him for Christmas smells as good when it's burning as the previously unlit wax suggests it will.

When the first hint of the candle reaches his nose, Merlin closes his eyes to better take it in. But, putting most of his focus on only one sense, it leaves him vulnerable. Therefore, he is surprised when arms wind around his stomach and a pair of lips attach to the nape of his neck then slowly make their way up his neck and to his ear."

"Good morning," Arthur whispers before placing yet another kiss to Merlin's skin, this time behind his ear.

Opening his eyes and letting the corners of his mouth tilt upwards, Merlin leans back to better mold his body against his husband's.

"Good morning."

He turns his head to the side, a silent request for a kiss that Arthur is more than happy to fulfill.

They pull apart at the sound of the kettle going off followed by mild fussing.

"You get the baby, I'll get the tea."


	2. Saturday January 2nd, 2021

"Shake-a, shake-a shake-aaaaaah!" Grace chants quietly to herself as she shakes the glass jar she is using to make butter. It was a moment of childhood nostalgia that had Merlin asking his little girl if she wanted to give it a try. If it also helps to tire her out before bedtime, then that would make the experience even better for Merlin.

"What are you up to?" Arthur asks curiously as he enters the kitchen carrying a freshly bathed Jasmine dressed up for bed in a fuzzy onesie.

"But-her!" Grace pronounces.

"Butter?!" Arthur exclaims with a gasp, bright and smiley for his daughter's benefit.

"Yeah!"

Smiling back cheekily, Grace's eyes crinkle and Arthur's heart swells over how very much she looks like her dad when she does that. Perhaps Arthur's love and pride are tangible and contagious because when Grace turns her smile onto her sister, the corners of Jasmine's mouth tug upwards and she starts to squeal and babble happy sounds at her sister while smacking at her Papa's chest.

As soon as a yawn cuts Jasmine's babbling short, Grace turns to Arthur.

"Papa?"

"Yes, Lu?" he asks her.

"Can Minnie eat but-her?"

Arthur has to think that over for a moment. As he contemplates, he switches the baby from one hip to the other. The parenting books, guides, and blogs are just about all jumbled up permanently in his head by now and he is sure he remembers the general consensus being that babies can eat butter after six months. Seeing as Jasmine is, in fact, older than six months, he shrugs.

Not once has Grace stopped shaking the jar and Arthur has to admit to himself that he is fairly impressed.

"She should be fine, but let's not give her too much," he informs his eldest before giving her hair a run through with his fingers as he passes by her to take a seat at the breakfast bar beside his husband.

"Hello, little mouse," Merlin cooes to Jasmine, who babbles at him instantly. Acting very invested, as if listening very seriously and joyously, Merlin nods along and makes all the proper excited facial expressions, which seems to encourage his daughter furthermore, although she starts to yawn every few seconds and her chattering has started to slow.

"Shake-a, shake-a, shake-a!"

Grace can still be heard chanting to herself. It makes Arthur go all warm inside.

"All set them?"

Arthur turns to look at Merlin then.

"Mmm. Hopefully, she'll go down soon enough."

"Here's to hoping, then," Merlin chuckles and leans in for a kiss, first to his yawning daughter's forehead, and then to his husband's lips.

"Here's to hoping."


	3. Sunday January 3rd, 2021

Today is the first brunch day of the new year and it is being hosted at the Emrys-Pendragon household.

"Uncle Gwaine, Uncle Percy! Guess what I made! Guess what I made!"

Lifting the three-year-old Emrys-Pendragon girl effortlessly in his arms, Percy gives her cheek a kiss before asking, "What did you make, Princess?"

"But-her!"

"Butter? Did you really?" Gwaine asks from beside them where he's holding his and Percival's year and a half old son, Evan. His face is the perfect picture of impressed.

"Yes!" is all Grace offers before squirming her way out of Percy's arms and indicating with her hands that she wants to help Evan walk along down the hallway towards the other little kids currently in the living room.

With a pat to Grace's hair, Gwaine puts Evan down.

"Where's this butter Grace tells me she's made?" Gwaine asks first thing upon entering the kitchen.

"Table," Merlin announces absentmindedly as he bounces a fussing and unhappily mumbling Jasmine from one hip to the other, seemingly distracted and looking for something around the kitchen counters. "Arthur-!"

"Got it."

Merlin stops abruptly and turns Arthur beside him, sighing in relief and smiling in thanks when his husband presents him with the unpeeled orange they have been letting Jasmine use as a teething toy and sneakily attempting to convince her is a prospectively good future snack.

"Holy shi- sheep."

The pair turn to find Gwaine munching on a piece of toast.

"Little Gracey made this?" he asks, holding up the toast to show off its smattering of butter.

"Old family recipe," Merlin shrugs.

Gwaine makes a noise of complaint when Percival comes in and steals his food. Trying a bite for himself, Percival gives a satisfied hum.

"Salted?"

"Course."

"Mm."

When Gwaine starts on another piece of toast for himself, the littlest shout comes from the living room.

"Uncle Gwaine, don' eat all'a it!"


	4. Monday January 4th, 2021

Today, Merlin and Arthur go back to work, much to the displeasure of their daughters who had grown used to constantly having their fathers around at their every beck and call. This makes for a rough morning, as Grace is very open about how little she likes the situation.

By the time Merlin and Arthur make it to their respective workplaces, their energy levels and moods have lowered significantly.

Even after spending the day with Gaius and Alice, Grace is still upset with her fathers and takes to clinging to them at home while also refusing to talk to them. That is, until bath time rolls around and Merlin and Arthur decide to work together to bathe their two girls as they share a tub with each other, alongside a large part of their already extensive bath toys.

"Do you have work tomorrow?" Grace asks quietly with her eyes downcast towards the colorful bath toy that Jasmine has taken a sudden interest in.

"Yeah, baby," Arthur regretfully tells her. To try to lighten the blow, he slowly cards his fingers once through her wet mess of hair.

"Do you have to?"

The puppy eyes she turns on her fathers is nothing new, but it still gets them every time.

Merlin sighs.

"Maybe I'll take you and your sister to the doctors with me before I go to work in the morning."

Grace only looks a little hopefully, but fairly pacified. She has never been one to care much for doctor's appointments.


	5. Tuesday January 5th, 2021

Upon entering Jasmine's room, faintly lit by the glow of a nightlight, the first thing that Merlin notices is that the floor is spotless, meaning that there are no dropped toys, then. The second thing he notices is that his seven-month-old is sat up in her cot, whimpering and staring him down.

"What is it, little one?" he coos softly, even though he's turned down the baby monitor in his and Arthur's bedroom, so as not to wake his husband.

As Merlin nears the cot, Jasmine begins to quiet some. However, she also starts to worry her trembling lower lip and lift her arms up to indicate that she wants to be picked up. Knowing the crying will only start up again if he doesn't give in, Merlin lifts Jasmine up and out of her crib, giving her forehead a quick kiss before running the usual dirty nappy test. Though her nappy does seem to be filled, Merlin counts himself lucky that it's only pee.

After a fast change- because apparently, it is true what they say, that the second baby is so much easier than the first- Merlin hopes to get his girl back to into her own bed so that he can return to his and Arthur's. This proves to be a fruitless attempt on his part when Jasmine clings to him every time he tries to ease her small body over the cot's railing and onto her bedding.

Holding Jasmine out at arm's length, Merlin looks his daughter in the eye and insists, "C'mon, Min."

The baby's only response is to reach her own arms out towards her father.

Sighing, Merlin pulls Jasmine in close, cradling her to his chest with one hand and using the other to smooth down her blonde curly locks.

"Alright, then. But if your Papa starts talking in his sleep, I'll put earplugs in and let you deal with it yourself."

Jasmine merely stares blankly at her dad.

Rolling his eyes and shifting his daughter so he can have more of a secure hold on her, Merlin heads out into the hallway only to stop once he reaches the door to his other daughter's bedroom. He could have sworn he and Arthur had shut it after putting Grace to bed, so it comes as a shock for Merlin to find it open.

Using the nightlight in Grace's room to help him see, Merlin ducks his head in to take a quick look around. Not finding his oldest daughter in her bed, where she should be, Merlin is struck with a sudden bolt of anxiety so tangible it causes Jasmine to fuss a little.

"Shh, I'm sorry. Shh."

Once the baby has hushed, Merlin takes to his and Arthur's shared bedroom as swiftly, but calmly as he possibly can without upsetting the baby further. But upon entering the bedroom, all of Merlin's nerves come crashing to a halt.

On Arthur's usual side of the bed lies the man himself with Foxy curled up on his chest and beside him in the middle of the bed, only the top of her head and her straggly mess of dark hair sticking out from underneath the blanket, lies their sleepy Gracey Lu.


	6. Wednesday January 6th, 2021

Both daughters already tucked in and sleeping peacefully in their own beds, Merlin and Arthur breathe sighs of relief that they were able to get them down early. With their morning starting earlier than normal when Grace woke at first light to the sight of a snow fall, something she just had to wake her fathers over so that they could watch with her.

Settled into their own bed, Arthur and Merlin curl up together in the middle, legs tangled under the covers that are under Foxy who is playing with a tiny toy mouse on top of his owners' feet.

"Do you remember when we first got him?" Merlin asks of their cat.

"You mean when Gaius brought him to us?" Arthur counters with a raised eyebrow.

Merlin rolls his eyes.

"Mon petit," he coos and Foxy takes a moment to look up at Merlin who grins at how easy it is to get the feline to purr.

"I prefer to make you purr, kitten," Arthur teases with a smug smirk and a hand carding through his husband's hair.

Merlin complains, "You're so gross." But he's smiling as he says it.


	7. Thursday January 7th, 2021

With snow due to start falling around early afternoon, Merlin and Arthur decide to take a half day at work. To avoid the hassle of having to pick the girls up from a babysitter and risk driving in more snow than necessary, they each bring a daughter to work.

"Baby, who do you want to go to work with today?" they ask Grace over breakfast.

Their oldest daughter hums to herself as she contemplates her answer and takes her time chewing and swallowing a piece of jam covered toast.

Throat cleared with a gulp of milk, Grace points back and forth between her fathers, muttering the words to "eeny, meany, miny, mo" to herself.

"Papa."

This is how Merlin ends up running around and commanding his office with a hyperactively chatty baby strapped to his chest all morning.

"I hear you girl has a new nickname," Morgana greets him when she sits beside him in the conference room.

Merlin rolls his eyes. All morning, Jasmine has babbled and shaken her hands and arms at every single person that has said hello to her, earning the new nickname, Jazz Hands Jasmine.

"Hello, Jazz!" Morgana cheers brightly to the little babe with a wide, open-mouthed smile and wide eyes.

A happy cry and widening mouth pops the spit bubble that Jasmine was blowing with her open mouth. As she has done throughout the rest of the morning, the seven-month-old shakes her hands at Morgana, who mimics her actions.

"I like Minnie better," Arthur tells his husband with a frown when Merlin relays this information to him.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, darling?" Merlin asks of Grace as she stands from her dress-up box.

In place of a verbal answer, the three-year-old walks up to her father and hands him a plastic wand. And when Merlin raises an eyebrow at her, she raises one back. Or, well, she tries, but she's still working on her intimidating stares, but she is getting very good very fast.


	8. Friday January 8th, 2021

Arthur has Grace and Jasmine set up in the living room attached to the kitchen with a small collection of toys to play with as he cooks dinner. Merlin was half helping him, half watching the kids, but then his mother had called asking if he still had something or other still lying around. It is the end of what feels like a long week, so dinner is nothing too special or difficult, but it was still nice to have his husband for company and to generally have him close in his vicinity.

Their time off from work for the holidays in December had been nice- not to mention that their anniversary is always a wonderful time for Merlin and Arthur, especially since they both always have off from work- since they had all those days to spend constantly together and with their girls, which made it all that much more difficult to have to separate in the day for work. Being at home afterward and before in the nights and mornings are small blessings for this small family of four.

One of the things Arthur missed most was their daily challenge of trying to get Jasmine to crawl more each day. They still do this, of course, but now there is less time for Merlin and Arthur to do so. At least their older daughter had taken it upon herself to fill their positions by trying extra hard to get Jasmine to move around during the day when they are with whoever it is that is babysitting them for that day. However, the one thing little Gracy can't do during the day- at least not by herself- that her fathers can, is to encourage Jasmine to start attempting to stand on her own. As their littlest girl is developing at quick a speed- too quick of a speed, in their longing opinion- the couple has been nothing short of excited and entirely encouraging of her advances. And goddamnit, but their baby was so close to pulling herself up into a supported but unassisted standing position!

Sighing, Arthur looks down at the food on the counter before him and wonders what vegetable might go best with the meal and that he and Merlin might actually manage to have Grace give a try at the very least. However, just as Arthur is about to turn to check the freezer, he feels a tug at his jean-clad leg.

When he looks down, the last thing he expects to find is his blonde haired, seven-month-old daughter attempting to pull herself up using her father's leg.

"Merlin."

It comes out hoarse and far too quiet, so he tries again.

"Merlin!"

Jasmine looks up at the sound of her father's voice and Arthur freezes, thinking he's just ruined everything, but then Jasmine makes a small sound and goes back to her quest.

At the sound of a gasp, Arthur looks up to see Grace gaping at her sister. It takes her a second before she looks away to catch her Papa's eye. He smiles encouragingly as he tasks her with dragging her Dad into the room.

Arthur watches as she scurries off towards the hall, only to see her backtrack hardly a second before leaving his view. Apparently, Merlin had already been on his way to them.

"What's going o- oh!"

Like Grace had done only moments before him, Merlin stands in the kitchen with his mouth hanging wide open while he stares at Jasmine.

A small grunt has Arthur staring down, too, and not a moment too soon, for as soon as Arthur claps his eyes on his smallest daughter, she looks up at him as she finally manages to pull herself up to stand with the support of her Papa's leg.

"Oh, baby girl," Merlin cries out quietly and Arthur can't help but laugh wetly.


	9. Saturday January 9th, 2021

One of the best things about Saturdays is that if Arthur and Merlin have had a long week, they can curl up in their bed with their two daughters and take their midday nap with them.


	10. Sunday January 10th, 2021

For today's brunch get together, everyone is gathered at Morgana and Leon's house. However, the actual brunch part of brunch is now over and the children, newly filled with energy, have expressed their shared interest of playing in the snow covering the back garden. With all of the adults mutually agreeing that it would be nice to have the kids tired out by the time naptime hits- aside from Jasmine, who looks like her satisfyingly filled stomach is about to put her down to sleep any minute now- the adults take to bundling their children up in their snowsuits and winter coats.

"Papa!" comes Grace's muffled shout of contrition when her head gets stuck in her sweatshirt.

"Sorry, baby," Arthur mutters distractedly, trying to figure out where he went wrong.

"Oi." Merlin taps his shoulder from behind him with the free hand he isn't using to hold a yawning Jasmine. "I think you've lost our girl."

"What?!" Grace squeaks, squirming in a bit of a panic until eventually both she and Arthur give the sweatshirt a firm tug and out pops Grace's head, her hair a mess, cheeks red, and little lips opened in a desperate pant.

"Oh, no, there she is," Merlin cheers brightly, running a hand through the three-year-old daughter's tangled locks.

Grace leans forward, grabbing onto Arthur's shirt collar. Desperately, she warns him, "Don't lose me!"

Rubbing soothing hands up and down his little girl's back, Arthur looks her in the eyes and assures her seriously, "I will not lose you."

Seconds pass and Grace stares down her father, seemingly searching for something in his eyes, but finally pulling back with a nod. She then turns her gaze onto her slightly taller father, waiting for Merlin to give her his own nod. As soon as he does, Grace breathes out a sigh of relief, every ounce of tension gratefully leaving her small body at once. Satisfied for now, she goes back to preparing for the snow by pulling her black beanie out of her coat pocket on the ground and putting it on her head without a single disregard for her mess of hair.

Arthur feels a little lost, even with his husband's hand on his shoulder to help ground him. But then, Grace hands Arthur her coat with a big, toothy grin and asks, "Help, please, Papa."


	11. Monday January 11th, 2021

"Da?" If the yawn and rubbing of her eyes aren't proof enough that Gracey is tired, the brief shortening of her call to her father would have been a definite tell-tale sign.

Yeah, baby," Merlin shushes her. "We're home."

A sleepy hum is Grace's only reply. Merlin assumes she is going back to sleep, so he slowly goes about continuing to unbuckle his daughter from her car seat. Seatbelt undone, Merlin is careful when lifting Grace into his arm before closing the car door quietly and bending slightly towards the garage floor to pick up Jasmine's baby car seat set, in which said baby sleeps in peacefully.

It's admittedly a bit of a challenge to get the door to the house open, but despite Arthur offering to go pick up their daughters with Merlin after work, Merlin had declined, really not minding. He liked being able to take care of his girls like this- liked that when they grew up, Merlin would still have these memories with him. And when he and Arthur turn old and grey, Merlin would still have the memories of Arthur witnessing Merlin carrying their daughters and the blond would smile fondly and say, "There's my strong, handsome husband."


	12. Tuesday January 12th, 2021

After Merlin shuts the door to Grace's bedroom, Arthur breathes quietly, "Sometimes, I still can't believe they're really ours."

Meeting his husband's eye, Merlin moves close into Arthur's space and places one hand on his husband's hip, the other on his cheek, thumb rubbing at the corner of his mouth. His gaze lowers to the blond's lips and the slightly shorter man follows Merlin's lead. Knocking their foreheads together and swallowing thickly around a sudden lump in his throat, Merlin opens his mouth, but it takes him a few seconds before any words come out.

"I'm so happy we have all of this, have them." Merlin brushes Arthur's nose with his own. "Have each other."

Arthur presses his nose firmly against Merlin's until the latter's eyes slip shut and then Arthur kisses him.

Pulling back, he whispers, "Let's go to bed."


	13. Wednesday January 13th, 2021

The heating in the Emrys-Pendragon household goes a little haywire in the day, bringing upon an unpleasant surprise for its occupants when they come home in the late afternoon. Though it takes a few phone calls, one thorough investigation, and a great deal of time, eventually they get matters all sorted. However, it takes longer than anyone likes for the house to warm back up. But, to combat this, Merlin and Arthur enlist Grace's help to build a blanket fort in the living room, the warmest room in the house because of the window placement that allowed for the most sunlight and warmth to seep in throughout the day.


	14. Thursday January 14th, 2021

In preparation for tonight's heavy snowfall, the Emrys-Pendragon family loads up on milk and bread. However, with their fridge being untidy and filled with old leftovers, Merlin and Arthur have to unload their fridge, clean it out, and then reload and organize. It's a nice end result, a refreshing one, even, but the beginning and middle before the end is a pain, especially when Arthur accidentally knocks a jam jar open, which shatters and creates a mess. Grimacing the whole while, Arthur deconstructs the inside of the refrigerator, giving the pieces to Merlin to clean while Arthur cleans the inside of the fridge itself.

About halfway through, despite having had his head inside the cold fridge Arthur has worked up a bit of his sweat. Looking around the kitchen, he considers grabbing a drink, but that would require cleaning his hands. He can't use the sink and he can't ask Merlin for help because Merlin is currently preoccupied with the sink.

Sighing, he continues to look around.

"What are you doing, Papa?"

When he turns towards the voice, he spots Grace sitting at the breakfast bar with a juice box.

"Can I have a sip of your juice, baby, please?"

Without even questioning him, Grace leans across the bar, one arm on the marble table for balance, and the other outstretched towards her father, brandishing the juice box at him.

"Say, 'thank you,'" Merlin teases from the sink. While Grace has been raised to be very polite, sometimes she forgets herself. She doesn't much like her fathers having to remind her, so she's made a game of it to remind her parents of the same. In turn, Merlin and Arthur have made a game of it, as well, calling out each other, and not just their daughter.

Gwen and Leon and Percival think little Jasmine is going to be doomed when she finally learns to speak.


	15. Friday January 15th, 2021

It is a Friday night and despite most of the snow outside having already melted, it is still cold outside. This cold following the small family into their home, even with the heat on keeping the house warm.

To bring heat back to their bodies, Merlin makes hot cocoa on with stove with milk and cocoa powder for Grace, Arthur, and himself. Little baby Jasmine is allowed to enjoy a bottle of warm milk, which she sucks down greedily.

"What game do you want to play tonight, Lu?" Arthur asks of Grace later on after dinner is cleaned up and another round of earlier's hot cocoa is being debated.

"Hmm…"

Grace hums to herself as she thinks, scrunching up her nose and cocking her head tom the side.

"Shadow puppets," she decides with a nod of finality.

Twenty or so minutes later, this is how the little Emrys-Pendragon family ends up with almost of their lights off in their living room, everyone huddled together on the floor. The two fathers and their eldest daughter take turns between snacking on popcorn and casting shadow puppets, all three contributing to the storylines made up for each and every shadow. Although Jasmine doesn't quite understand what's going on, she seems to be enjoying herself, laughing when her family laughs and making loud, happy noises when they get particularly excited over something.

All in all, not too bad of a way to end the week.


	16. Saturday January 16th, 2021

On Saturday, while Jasmine takes an extra long nap and Grace wakes up a little early from her own, the older girl and her fathers make banana bread.

"Can I help, daddy? Please, please!" Grace begs from where she sits on top of the kitchen counters.

Merlin looks up from his measuring cups and casts hs eyes at the ingredients laid out before him. At the sound of the pantry door closing, he looks over his shoulder to find Arthur with his hands occupied by a small selection of nuts and chocolates.

Nodding at the bags as Arthur sets them on the counter in front of Grace, Merlin offers, "How about you pick out what else we put in the bread? One kind of nut and one kind of chocolate. That sound good?"

Grace's answer comes in the form of her enthusiastically grabbing at the bag of milk chocolate chips.

Knowing how much of a menace their oldest child is when it comes to chocolate, Arthur wonders if he can convince his husband to add more nuts than chocolate. But, knowing his husband's own affinity for chocolate, Arthur knows it would be a pointless request. At the very least, maybe Arthur can keep them from snacking on just the chocolate alone as they wait on the banana bread.


	17. Sunday January 17th, 2021

As per their not-quite-normal brunch hosting, Gwaine and Percival have created yet another odd theme.

"Brunch foods pizza," Arthur states blankly.

Gwaine only smirks in response.

"Can I have maple syrup?"Grace asks politely, but her wide, bright eyes belie her excitement.

Merlin, ridiculous as he is, honest to god gasps, "French toast pizza!" before running off towards the kitchen, Grace cheering him on from her place on his hip.

Watching his husband go, Arthur muses aloud, "I married that.."

"I can hear you," Merlin loudly sing-songs from across the house.

Gwaine swings an arm around Arthur's shoulders and leads him to the kitchen.

"Act above us all you want, Emrys-Pendragon, but we all know how much you love pizza and breakfast sausages."


	18. Monday January 18th, 2021

Arthur, feeling a little ill after a lack of sleep and a long day, finds himself being babied by Grace, who goes as far as to make requests for Merlin to help her make tea and help her force Arthur to lay down on the couch so Grace can cover him in her favorite blanket, tucking him in.


	19. Tuesday January 19th, 2021

Arthur breaks out the old video camera when, taking advantage of Jasmine's recent determination to stand with support as often as she can, Grace hands on tight to his little sister's hands and slowly attempts to dance her around the living room to some of Merlin's favorite childhood tunes.


	20. Wednesday January 20th, 2021

As much as he would like to deny it, it appears that Arthur is still a bit under the weather, is as evident to Merlin when Arthur hints at having a fuzzy headed migraine. Though he does protest, eventually he lets Merlin convince him to stay home. However, he only agrees once Grace announces to Merlin that she will take care of her Papa. Merlin is hesitant to allow it, but soon comes to the conclusion that having the kids at home makes Arthur feel productive, and if he isn't feeling productive while home alone, he will most certainly go into work so that he can be productive- or, at least as productive as he can with his mind being as addled as it is today.

Merlin, of course, trusts his husband to take care of their children, but he's hoping the trust he has put into their eldest daughter to "take care" of Arthur isn't misplaced. But as it turns out, he might not have given their girl enough credit.

When Merlin arrives home, he immediately chases after the faint sounds coming from the living room, expecting to find Arthur doing something with the kids. Instead, Arthur is asleep on the couch, noise canceling earphones over his ears (though not plugged into anything as far as Merlin can tell), and Jasmine also asleep on his chest, one little fist curled up into her Papa's shirt and the other clinging to the arm securely wrapped around her. And there, on the floor, leaning against the couch, is little Gracy, not once taking her eyes off the telly (though Merlin can't really fault her for that since Aladdin is one of their favorites) as she pats the pillow beside her and authoritatively whispers, "Daddy! Come and sit quiet!" And now he is completely positive that Arthur's headphones are most definitely not plugged into anything and that Grace must have put them on him once he had fallen asleep so she could quietly watch her movie without waking him.


	21. Thursday January 21st, 2021

With an earlier than usual start to the morning thanks to Jasmine waking and fussing before the sun, Merlin and Arthur are dead exhausted. Sun finally starting to show itself, baby calmed, and Merlin needing a wake-up, he puts on the kettle and starts on a quick, easy thing of scrambled eggs. He's caught off mid-yawn by a gasp when Arthur wraps his arms around the slighter man's waist, tucking their bodies close in together. Though he hasn't turned to look, Merlin is fairly sure that Arthur has his eyes closed and is starting to doze off on his shoulder.

A few minutes later, eggs seconds from being done, Merlin is swayed forward and then back. At first, he assumes Arthur has momentarily fallen asleep only to jolt right back up. But when Arthur mumbles, "Mornin', Lu," and is answered by a weak but high pitched hum, Merlin comes to realize that Grace must have woken and followed her Papa's example of wrapping himself around Merlin by wrapping herself around Arthur's legs.


	22. Friday January 22nd, 2021

A broken doorknob leads to a minor argument between Merlin and Arthur, only broken off by Grace whining, "Minnie doesn't like this!" And indeed, once they're finally stopped bickering, the two fathers can hear their youngest child grumbling.

Frowning over their own shame, the pair rush over to their baby, Merlin taking a second to scoop up into his arms Grace on the way.

"We're sorry, babies," Arthur and Merlin soothe their children. "We're sorry."


	23. Saturday January 23rd, 2021

To make up for upsetting their girls over their argument yesterday, Arthur and Merlin have an extra long morning cuddle in their bed with both Grace and Jasmine. Merlin has Jasmine propped up on his chest, playing little finger games with her, both Grace and Arthur watching them from beside them. Grace is laid out between her father, sandwiched between them, cradling Foxy to her.

"Papa."

"Yeah, baby?"

"Foxy's got eye boogies," Grace complains.

Turning his gaze on his oldest daughter and their cat, Arthur comments, "You've got eye boogies, too." Then reaching out, he gently cleans the corners of both Grace's and Foxy's eyes of 'eye boogies.'


	24. Sunday January 24th, 2021

Brunch day is also an icy, snowy day, much to Merlin's displeasure; something he does not keep quiet about.

"It's okay, Daddy," Grace informs him when they pull into Gwen and Lance's driveway. "I'll hold your hand." And she does hold his hand for the entire ten or so steps to the front door, the both of them studiously ignoring Arthur's attempts to hold back his laughter.


	25. Monday January 25th, 2021

Today, Grace decides that she is ready for her first ever haircut. As a rule, Arthur and Merlin agreed early on that they would never force any specific appearances on their children (unless wildly inappropriate, of course), including hairstyles. For, the two years she has been on this Earth, she has not once wanted to have her hair cut, claiming that she was waiting. Apparently today she has finally found what she was looking for. However, she refuses to reveal what look she wishes to go for, which only intrigues her fathers more. In fact, Merlin and Arthur are so anxiously curious to know that they both rush out of work early to pick up the girls and bring them to the hairdressers. Though they think that they are clever, as it turns out, their oldest daughter is cleverer, for while she does allow her fathers to watch as her hair is cut, Grace only lets the hairdresser know what she wants. It is because of this that the Emrys-Pendragon men find themselves shocked once again when they see all the hair gathered on the floor; enough to make a nice winter coat for Foxy.

At the end of the appointment, Grace's fathers can hardly recognize their little girl who spent two years growing out her dark locks into a long, messy, practical lion's mane, only to somewhat impulsively have it all chopped to a short, wavy bob cut curling up to mouth level, topped off with a thin veil of bangs over her forehead stopping just above her eyebrows.

"She is definitely your daughter," Arthur whispers to Merlin in awe, never once taking his eyes off Grace.

"With the wild, sudden hair experiments and secrecy until the last minute, yeah," Merlin agrees before countering, "but the impulsivity and two yearlong indecision is all you."

Arthur pauses for a moment before admitting softly, "She's beautiful like you, though."


	26. Tuesday January 26nd, 2021

Her teeth growing in, Jasmine spends the early hours of the morning awake and fussy. She wakes her fathers, but not her sister. Because of this, Grace keeps to her normal napping and nightly sleep schedules, whereas Jasmine takes an extra long night, resulting in her keeping Merlin and Arthur up half the night.

"Couldn't this have happened on a Friday?"

"This Friday is date night, someone else would have the babies."

"Exactly."


	27. Wednesday January 27th, 2021

Ever since Jasmine learned to stand by pulling herself up, the little babe has made it her own personal quest to pull herself up by using any and every single possible thing she can. But, as they say, what goes up, must go down. Unfortunately for Jasmine, most of her going down time is result of her losing her balance and falling. The first few times, her shock and confusion let to crying, which weakened her father's hearts as they rushed to comfort her every time. However, eventually the seven-month-old grew used to her falling, and after a few grumbly moments of frustration, she would pick herself back up again, sometimes clinging to Grace or letting her big sister cling onto her for support.


	28. Thursday January 28th, 2021

"Baby."

"Mm."

"Baby, look. You can see Minnie's teeth grown in."


	29. Friday January 29th, 2021

Tonight is Merlin and Arthur's first date night of the year. Throughout the years, they have kept up their last Friday of the night date night, a tradition they just cannot make themselves grow out of. Unfortunately, the date is cut a little short by another first of the year: Arthur getting a bloody nose.


	30. Saturday January 30th, 2021

Today, the Emrys-Pendragon family goes shopping for children friendly art supplies, as per request of Grace. Grocery cart parked beside a painting of a cat in a local craft store, Arthur helps Grace pick out some paint colors while Merlin readjusts Jasmine's shoes, which she has been trying to kick off. Shoes finally put back to rights, Merlin looks up to give his daughter a playfully exasperated sigh, only to release an entirely different sound when he comes face to face with a bit of a surprise.

Snapping his head up at the sound of his husband giving a shouting laugh, Arthur turns to see what has caused such a reaction. The first thing he sees is the cat painting and he thinks for a brief moment that it looks a bit like Foxy. Thinking this must be what Merlin is laughing at, Arthur looks to him to make a witty remark, only to find Merlin looking at their littlest girl, sat up in the baby seat of the grocery cart. It takes him a second, but finally, he realizes what Merlin is laughing at.

Foxy, cute cat as he is, has the occasional tendency to fall asleep with his tongue out. Apparently, this little habit has not gone unnoticed by Innie Minnie Jasmine, for she is sat before the cat painting with her tongue peeking out of her closed mouth, her head tipped back and eyes closed, much like their pet.


	31. Sunday January 31st, 2021

Today's brunch is hosted at the Emrys-Pendragon household because it is due to snow from late morning until late into the night and everyone knows better than to let Merlin out onto the roads while it snows that much.

Merlin huffs when he reads the group chat texts, where his and Arthur's friends decided together, without waiting for confirmation from Merlin and Arthur, that they would hold brunch. He wouldn't mind going to someone else's, he would just make Arthur drive, which is exactly what he texts the group. Though he hates to admit it, Merlin is impressed by how quickly his phone is bombarded with vibrations from the constant stream of messages from his friends and husband in the chat, all listing different occasions when any of them been out in the snow with Merlin and each and every one of them have come close to leaving Merlin to freeze to death because of his excessive complaining, screaming, and/or clinging onto those around him.


	32. Monday February 1st, 2021

While Grace can be one to easily sulk and brood, it is very rare for her to cry tears of another other than joy. Arthur and Merlin have heard countless times that kids are practically indestructible, and they have seen their little girl trip and land face first on concrete and get back up only seconds later, continuing to walk off as nothing had happened. Still, it always comes as a surprise to her fathers every time Grace does manage to get hurt and hardly show any sign of being bothered by her injuries. And so, when Merlin is woken in the morning to the sight of his oldest daughter standing by his bedside, first aid kit silently held out towards her dad and a slightly trickling of blood seeping from a small cut on her head – that Merlin later finds out was caused by Grace falling out of her bed in her tiredness and accidentally bonking her head against the corner of her bedside table – his first instinct is to pull his baby girl in close and then wake Arthur so he can help him wrap their little girl up entirely in wool and bubble wrap.


	33. Tuesday February 2nd, 2021

"It's been a while since you've given me flowers," Merlin inquires, but his gaze is soft and he's biting his lower lip in an obvious attempt to hold back the full extent of his smile.

"I had a meeting with a client today and all I could think of was you; she was wearing this scarf with painted blue orchids printed on it," Arthur tells his husband truthfully, knowing the flower is one of Merlin's favorites. It had admittedly been a bit of a disappointment when he couldn't find one to bring home to Merlin, but he likes the arrangement he's made. If the gentle way Merlin stroke a single fingertip along the petals of one of the roses is anything to go by, Arthur is entirely confident that his love likes them, too.


	34. Wednesday February 3rd, 2021

Merlin wakes in the middle of the night, feeling cold and a little uneasy. Rolling over to curl up against his husband, he quickly realizes why.

Having an important meeting coming up, Arthur found himself overloaded with stress and work. Though he tried not to bring the stress home with him while he was around the girls, that didn't stop him from bringing home the work. But he still tried to separate his work life and home life; coming home at his usual time, if not a half hour late, helping with and being entirely engaged over dinner and the cleanup, and never missing his and Merlin's joined nightly routine of putting their daughters to bed. And then there was always the struggle of trying to get as much done before going to bed themselves, with Arthur working while Merlin showered, and hoping to be done and lying in his husband's arms as soon as he returned to their bed.

Tonight, however, Arthur needed to finish his work. So, when Merlin turned off the lamp on his bedside table, Arthur had decided to cart his work off to his study, despite Merlin's attempts to reassure him that he really didn't mind Arthur working in bed. Arthur only shook his head, pressing quick, but gentle kisses to Merlin's lips, nose, and forehead as he reminded Merlin that he knows he prefers to sleep in absolute darkness.

Merlin had hoped that Arthur would be back right before he fell asleep, but knew that it wasn't very likely.

He sighs now, trying to will his husband back to their bed by silently wishing very hard. After about a minute, when this doesn't seem to work, Merlin rolls himself out of bed, heading off to Arthur's study, figuring he might as well check on his husband's progress.

When he gets to the study, he finds Arthur with his face down on his desk.

"Arthur?" he whispers quietly, trying to see if he might be awake.

As luck would have it- or perhaps misfortune in Arthur's case- he is.

"Baby," Arthur moans pitifully. "'M so tired."

His heart at aching at the quiet admission, Merlin determinedly gets Arthur to his feet, the pair of them each wrapping one arm around the other's waist.

"C'mon." He kisses Arthur's head as it drops onto Merlin's shoulder. "Let's get you to bed."

A soft sound coming from high in Arthur's throat, and his free arm wrapping its way around Merlin so he has him completed held in his embrace, are the only signs Merlin receive from Arthur to indicate that he understands and approves of this plan.


	35. Thursday February 4th, 2021

After picking the girls up once his work day has ended, Merlin takes Grace and Jasmine with him to go pick up cat food. Usually, whenever Merlin or Arthur brings either Grace alone or both Grace and Jasmine in with them, they put the latter in the safety children seat of a cart and the former into the actual shopping cart. But for the first time, this does not happen.

Apparently, their usual pet store has changed since the last time they went, though not by much. The main thing - the only thing, really - that actually affects the little Emrys-Pendragon family is the addition of double-seated carts added to the mix of single-seaters. Upon noticing this, Grace gasps and stares wide-eyed in awe. Rather quickly, the look turns into something more contemplated, something more wicked.

Closing her mouth, but still baring her teeth, Grace turns a bright, toothy smile onto her father. She doesn't say a thing, just continues to grin up at Merlin and twists her hips back and forth slowly but dramatically to get her dress to sway over her thick leggings. Her hands are stuffed into the pockets of her coat and her head is tipped back at just the right angle to get her longer hair to fall back while bangs stay perfectly in place fluffed up against her forehead. Grace and being overly cute and she knows it. Worse than that, she knows it's working, that her dad will give in, and that she's going to get what she wants.

Sighing, Merlin shakes his head at her very much like Arthur their oldest girl is.

"Oh, alright," he bemoans in an over exaggerated fashion while pulling the cart over to securely slip Jasmine into one of the seats.

Grace takes her hands out of her pocket to pump her fists in the air and triumphantly hisses, "Yes!"

Five minutes later, all the way across town, Arthur's phone vibrates with a text from Merlin containing a picture of Jasmine and Grace sitting side by side in the children seat of a grocers cart, Jasmine looking her typically happy self, and Grace looking far too smug from a little one her age.


	36. Friday February 5th, 2021

With a headache building, Merlin really wants to stay in bed, but with Arthur being so busy this week, he and Merlin had promised Grace a movie night. He decides to try to stick through as much as he can handle and perhaps sneak off early to bed, except Arthur notices Merlin's symptoms and spots the issue fairly quick.

"How about me and you have a special Gracey and Papa only movie night, baby?" Arthur asks their daughter.


	37. Saturday February 6th, 2021

At a quarter to two in the morning, Merlin's sickness has become progressively worse, much to Arthur's concern. But to everyone's concern, it turns out that Jasmine is sick, too. To remedy this, Arthur spends the day taking care of them, with little Gracey helping out as his assistant.


	38. Sunday February 7th, 2021

Feeling better, but still tired and down, the Emrys-Pendragon family decide to skip out of brunch early. Having told their plan, Merlin and Arthur are surprised but grateful when Gwen and Lance make soup the main meal of brunch.


	39. Monday February 8th, 2021

Jasmine is rather grumbly today, babbling nonsense sounds more than usual.

"Maybe she's trying to figure out her first real word?"


End file.
